Theoria. Revista de Teoría, Historia y Fundamentos de la Ciencia

Volume 23, Issue 1, January 2008

Pure intuition
Miranda Fricker on the economy of prejudice

Two aspects of Miranda Fricker’s book are criticised: the implicit assumption that ethical theory can solve fundamental problems in epistemology, and the excessive reliance on testimony as a fundamental source of knowledge. Against the former, it is argued that ethical theories are based on cultural prejudices to a higher extent than epistemological theories. Against the latter, argumentation is proposed as a more important epistemic practice than testimony.